WP7 Does NOT Tether…Ouch [Official Word From MS]

So Microsoft reached out to BGR to tell them that Brandon Watson misspoke the other day and WP7 does NOT support tethering. We didn’t carry the original story that it could tether because, quite frankly, we took it for granted so it didn’t seem like news. But not tethering is news.

Apparently MS doesn’t realize that Windows Mobile has had this for years. Oh you want a software solution from a third party? That could work as long as you don’t switch apps and it has to be put to sleep because of a lack of multitasking.

MS – stop screwing around and implement some features that you’ve written before. You can fix the aesthetic later but if you leave it out entirely you’ll just keep getting bad press about what WP7 is NOT and you’ll never get a message out about what it is.

15 COMMENTS

@Chris Leiter: to be fair, I can’t remember the last time I tethered but I do know this. If I ask my wife if her phone tethers she’d have no idea. If I ask my friends if theirs tethers, they’ll have no idea. This is another concept that we’re overly sensitive to as power users…nonetheless, MS should have dealt with it

Lack of tethering is HUGE showstopper for me. While its not necessarily something that I use everyday, it has saved my bacon a number of occasions while working in the field on a survey boat when I had to have PC internet access.

I’ve also been reading that its not just tethering for internet thats missing… there is no
“tethering” for the transfer of data files between the phone and your pc (other than media files) because there’s no access to built-in storage.

This is still another example of WP7 forcing “all” interaction into the cloud. This is no longer a personal device but something that requires an unreliable connection 24/7. Sort of like living in a tent instead of a house. You need to venture out for even the most basic needs. Don’t give up that unlimited data plan cause you are going to need it. And I still don’t think the 1Ghz processors will be up for the task. Think 2Ghz+.

Maybe it’s just the industry I’m in, but most of the people that I know that have smart phones use tethering on the regular. Be it via a jail broken iPhone, android, or winmo. I use it all the time for my laptop, iPad, and to share with other people’s devices. Not having tethering on a phone might not be a deal breaker for most, but it means that I’ll absolutely never own a wp7 device as a primary device until it is available. And by then, the next Jesus phone will probably be out, so who knows

Actually ATT probably had more to do with the teathering decision than did MS.

This phone marks the beginning of paying for your bandwidth consumption as well as your content…and the end of XDA. You can bet that ATT will make sure that HTC and MS secure up the rom this time around.

@Leigh: How do you tether with an LG? So we’re clear, I (me personally) am the one that first tethered a Samsung Focus using their internal Samsung codes to enable tethering. Our site was the first to post on for that reason. I haven’t followed LG tethering since it’s new to the US and the least desireable of the bunch, but what does it takes to tether?

This is on a AT&T (unbranded) Unlocked Quantum shipped from US to United Kingdom, currently being used on Hutchinson 3G (three.co.uk).
If extra init is needed it would be at+cgdcont=1,”IP”,”three.co.uk” I believe.

As you will know this is virtually identical to your Samsung process ;)

Also with these drivers I can get the C900B to register and connect with LG PC Suite ii, but once connected no further action possible. ie: cant open contacts/music/pictures etc